Solodyn and the dumbass Dermatologists who write for it

Stupid drugs piss off pharmacists, its a known fact.Stupid doctors who listen to drug-reps as if they were the second coming of whoever piss off pharmacists.

Combine the two, and you get 2 classes of doctors:Dermatologists and Dentists. Notice how they both start with D as well as the word Dumbass and Dipshit.

Take a completely stupid new drug that is out, Solodyn (Website complete with 1 recall!). That’s right, they took Minocycline, made it 90mg and ER, sucked the FDA off to give it an ‘acne’ indication, and now they are selling it for $1573.82 per bottle of 100. Thats right, 1500 bucks for minocycline. Go look at your shelf at that $20 bottle of minocycline 100mg in generic and tell me what 10 fucking milligrams in an “Extended Release” is going to do (and is it worth the 100x price increase).

What gets me are the Dermatologists who write for this shit. Are you fucking kidding me? Are you so incredibly stupid to believe that this bullshit will do ANY better than the 100mg they have had on the market for decades? Why do you believe that 90mg ER is better than 100mg bid? Is it because the big-titted reps tell you so? I don’t even know how you can even justify this! What are you going to do? Show me studies that are made BY THE DRUG MANUFACTURER that show this to be better than Minocin 100? Yeah, I’ll also show you evidence BY CHEVY that MY CHEVY TRUCK is better than YOUR FORD. That’s okay, I consider Dermatologists to be on the same level as voodoo witch doctors. No offense to those out there who actually boot drug reps out and use actual *gasp* knowledge, but your fellow colleagues are stupid and make my life difficult. Most of you guys/gals are more than willing to switch to generic Minocin (especially when I tell you how much this cost, a figure the rep ‘accidently’ left out), however a handful of you need to lay off the Medicis Kool-Aid Crackpipe.

So instead of having this sleazy me-too producing drug company (Medicis, producer of overpriced shit like Benzoyl Peroxide Pads) hand out samples to the doctors, they hand them these trial cards. Yeah, I’m going to stock a 1500 dollar bottle of your shit on my shelf so I can dispense 30 and have the rest rot. Go fuck yourself. If you cared about anything other than your profits/what nationality of imported hookers for the next board meeting you would make this shit in unit-of-use bottles of 30. On behalf of pharmacies everywhere, you make it in 30’s and we’ll stock it. Until then, I’m sorry but “our wholesaler is out of it/we don’t stock that drug” because its FUCKING STUPID. Doctors, if you wish to plop down the 1500 beans and carry this shit in your office, oh, I didn’t think so.

This is yet another reason why medication costs so much in this country, because there are STUPID drug companies who will make this shit, and there are even stupider Doctors who gobble up the bullshit studies and actually write for this and get it sold!

Dental drugs are also notorious for being so overpriced and stupid (uh Periostat?). At least most dentists are so insecure in their pharmacology that you can get them to change it to something that is not going to cost the patient their first born child, but Dr Dermatologist WD (Witch Doctor) and their chicken-bones (Elidel/Protopic) are hard headed. I’m sorry the other MD’s made fun of you in school, doesn’t mean you need to take it out on the pharmacist and the patient with the bullshit you get from your big-titted friend with the free pens and clipboards.

I can go on for ages about the stupid these these two classes of doctors write for under the all-knowing direction of some clueless PDR using sales rep, but I think you get the point. If you stock this shit, let me know so we can laugh at you.

On another note, since the economy is taking a nosedive, I’m sure a bunch of these big companies are going to be laying off some drug-reps. Anyone around want to spearhead a Drug Rep Porn site? Its like Pharmacy Hotties (NSFW) but with drug-reps! There are going to be a ton of hot big-titted reps that are going to be hungry for work to pay off their boob-jobs.

Post navigation

64 thoughts on “Solodyn and the dumbass Dermatologists who write for it”

I won’t carry Solodyn. I won’t fill it. Net loss on a bottle of that is astronomical when you don’t fill the other 70. That’s exactly what Big Pharma banks on.
In fact, there’s a lot of shit I refuse to carry or fill because of the same sorta reasoning….
And did you seriously use the word stupider? As the former editor of my high school newspaper for two years, I am obligated to hate you…

Ummm, I’m pretty sure they do make it in 30’s. Also there is only really one MD’s office where both doc’s there prescribe it. I heard they say that regular minocycline is worse for your teeth over time, but that sounds shakey. I think one of them helped the company with some of their research which might explain a lot.

What I’m really tired of are dinosaur pharmacists who don’t realize when it is time to retire. Slow of body, slow of mind, and utterly useless. You shouldn’t be practicing if you started your career before computers existed.

I called the doctor to change to drug to immediate release generic because it is not covered of course and cost 1000000000 dollars per month to the patient. A lovely dumb shit of a nurse sent me a message back stating that “it is not up to us to make recommendations to the patient, it is up to the doctor. That it is unprofessional to undermine the doctor AND HIS ORDERS. If the patient wants it, they can fork over the money for it”. Ha. I let the patient listen to it. priceless

Amen to that! Dermatologists are by far the worst. Clindareach, Doryx, Oracea… Not to mention all the “kits”, foams, and “novel” benzoyl peroxide products (6.5% is somehow magically better than 6%).
The drug reps distribute their $20 off coupons and the dermatologists write their “DAW” prescriptions for them as if these are the best things ever created.
Since patients usually decide not to pick up their $100 prescription for pimple cream (after discount), we are stuck with them taking up space and collecting dust until their expiration. They act as a trophy case for inept prescribing.

Can’t say I disagree at all. Two of our three local dermatologists write “No Sub” on *everything*. On shit like Clobetasol, FFS.
This kind of stupidity is ironic, because Dermatology is the THE hardest medical specialty to get into because of the good hours, and ridiculously high reimbursement rates and fewest residency slots. It’s harder to get into than neurosurg.
I wonder if this kind of competition leads to an I’m-always-right-go-fuck-yourself attitude once you’re done. As though you’re godlike and can make no mistakes or are immune to stupidity down the line because after all, you Made It(tm).

I agree! I went to a Dermatologist for a rash and red watery bumps on my face. She took one look and told me it was hormones. Then she began to tell me that I needed to get off of all hormone replacements. Like she is my medical doctor and has the right to tell me that. I did not agree with her and she became rude and out of line. I have never gone back. She was to stick to my skin issues and nothing else. Oh, then she prescribed me a pill that would block certain hormones. No thanks! The pill was expensive, by the way.

FYI, Solodyn does come in 30 count bottles.
I do agree with you that dermatologists are the most annoying breed– let’s face it, what’s the difference between rx strength 9.5 benozyl peroxide and otc persagel, other than about 40 to 60 dollars???

Pharmboy – We use 3 different wholesalers here and all of them only stock the 100s.
You know what the worst part is? You’ll come back two days later and the same person will have gotten the solodyn patient and you’ll see an opened bottle on your shelf. Doesn’t matter how many times I explain this type of thing to people, they simply do not get it.
Oh, and props to pimpin’ pharmacy hotties lol

Did you know that Playboy did a “Women of Mensa” issue in the early 1980s?
BTW, your link locked up my computer. I’m a heterosexual female; I was simply curious as to what the site entailed.
I, too have seen an RX for Solodyn, and we called the dermatologist (who, BTW, is very good) to get it changed to regular minocycline. We figured it was probably very expensive, but $16 a capsule? It’s not like it cures cancer or anything!

“sucked the FDA off to give it an ‘acne’ indication”
Don’t blame the FDA. If someone submits an approval application, can show the med works better than a placebo, and meets reasonable safety standards, the FDA is obligated to approve the product, no matter if the company is planning to sell it for 10 cents or 10 billion dollars. This is the kind of thing that happens when you decide that big government is bad and its powers must be limited. You end up with an FDA powerless to stop Solodyn. You do realize, I hope, that in countries with a national health service, $500 minocycline would never see the light of day.
Which is why I stock Solodyn and most often happily take my customers money for it. Because most of my customers these days are precisely the type of people who would not hesitate to lecture me on the importance of limiting the role of the Federal Government. I find an inner happiness in knowing they are literally putting their money where their mouth is….

“Its like Pharmacy Hotties (NSFW) but with drug-reps! There are going to be a ton of hot big-titted reps that are going to be hungry for work to pay off their boob-jobs.”
As a former “Pharmacy Hottie” (former in that I had my photos taken down) I just wanted to say that they’re real, and Pharmacy Hotties didn’t pay me a dime either way! 🙂
I hate the stupid Solodyn coupons. Grrrrr.

I frickin’ hated Derm rotations. Acne, an occasional person with an actual bad skin problem other than acne, a few skin cancers, and this whole group of patients with “disfiguring” rashes that I could not even SEE. This one derm saw this woman with this “horrible” “disfiguring” “redness” on her nose which the derm had already tried to treat with about 1000 different creams and ointments. I’m thinking it’s time to have a discussion with the patient about the fact that perhaps her perception of the severity of her “rash” was much greater than other people were perceiving it (actually they weren’t perceiving it because it didn’t exist) and that maybe she should seek out help learning to cope with it as is (codeword psychiatrist). What did the derm do? Of course, gave her expensive cream #1001. WTF? I don’t care how good their hours are or how much money they make, I’d have had to kill myself if I had to put up with these people everyday. Give me a hundred drug seekers and antibiotics-for-colds beggars for just ONE of these body dysmorphic folks.

I have never met a cross, egoistic, unhappy, or otherwise contrary dermatologist. These folks always appeared to me to be the most pleased-as-punch, warmhearted practitioners in all of medicine. I have almost never had a problem communicating with them. Why is this so? I guess, seldom do they have bona fide emergencies or patients in psychomotor rage, and their clinical challenges are limited to the dermis. I may be all wrong about this, and have skipped over those derms who have to save third-degree burn patients from death and disfigurement, but such is my conclusion after a few decades of dealing with them. Does this mean they are too casual a class of doctors to stop and ponder a little bit of pharmacoeconomics? It makes me wonder.

JM you dumb fuck–who do you think gave pharmacists the reputation that they have. “Trusted” We old farts that try and protect the patients and our existence from money grubbing insurance co.s and manufacturers. If these manufactures can give a discount card for an rx that costs over $400, why don’t they just price it right to begin with and let it stand on its own merit.
Crusty RPh

U R Right on Crusty Crab! I am not a RPH just a dad paying for one ( in school- P3. Stopped paying in P2 ). It’s like almost everything these day the MFG price is bulit in with the Idea of everyone is going to use a promotion coupon. Don’t have one, then you way overpaid. So , why not Rx, they figure. But I agree just let it stand on its own. Solodyn , the MFG says you pay no more than $10 a month with their discount card. As you can see for 60 count 100mg MFG retail is like $992 riduculous dollars. But the MFG is so kind to give card that gives a generous $750 off. But many insurances will only pick-up maybe on average 120-200.00 . So the patient is picking up $40 – $120.00 on average. So $40.00 ok $60-120 plus sucks for one-month. So why not just start the drug at $ 242.00 and f the card. And save the marketing costs.

QUESTION, CAN A DRUG COMPANY LEGALLY HAVE OWNERSHIP IN A PHARMACY? ALSO WHO WOULD YOU REPORT FRAUD ACTIVITY TO?
1. IS IT LEGAL FOR A MEMBER TO SEND YOU A PIC OF AN RX AND YOU FILL IT?
2. CAN YOU DISPENSE FROM ONE NPI BUT BILL WITH ANOTHER?
3. IF THE RX HAS STOCK SIZE ON IT, CAN YOU LEGALLY JUST CHANGE IT TO THE HIGHER DOSE?
4. CAN YOU ALWAYS PUT DAW 2 ON A CLAIM WITH OUT ASKING THE PATIENT.

I see that many people here are commenting on how they can only get quantity 100 Solodyne from their wholesalers. I don’t know if this makes any difference, but I work at a CVS and we usually always have the 30’s exclusively. I’m sure if I checked the wholesaler order book there would probably only be qty 100’s in there though. Weird. Solodyne (and Oracea by extension) can still suck the big one.

Shy Intern: Loved your photos – I’m glad I downloaded them before you had them removed!
rph3664: Another reason to dump your Win-doze machine and get a Mac.
General: Though we’re the people you love to hate, a good insurance company evaluates the literature on new products and discourages the use of stupid products. For us, Solodyne was at the top of the stupid list.

As one of my techs observed, derms like to prescribe hideously expensive branded products; in the absence of such products they will happily use generics as the ingredients to a stupid-ass pointless compound. Meh.

Honestly every time I see this I think of huge scimitars. And then I remind my self, Solodyn not Saladin. And the spelling does not help my dyslexia in other ways. I keep moving to “was that the crusade with all the sodomy?” No, that was the Bulgars (buggers) in France…
GREAT Name choice.

Shy Intern – I remember your pics before they were taken down… they were nice lol
Pharmboy – Like I said we use 3 wholesalers where I work currently and I checked 3 more at my old work and they only have the 100s. Maybe CVS offered them a bonus rim job to stock the 30s
Crusty – Did a print off our script pro the other day. Top 4 drugs? Hydrocodone 10/500, 10/325/ 7.5/500, 5/500 in that order lol

I too, have seen it come in smaller quantity bottles…but to each wholesaler his own.
We received two prescriptions for Qty 59 Solodyn, when the bottles we were able to get each had 60 in them. My pharmacist rolled her eyes and said ‘fill it…but don’t label it, and don’t open the bottles until he comes in and we talk about the price’
The person writing the prescriptions had written them for his son and wife…and he had a manufactuer’s assistance “coupon” for at least one, bringing the price down to $25. Hot damn, from over 1K to $25, not so bad. When he came in to pick them up, I asked him politely if he realized that the second one was still over $1000. He got extremely haughty and whipped out another card for the second prescription. I told him 15 minutes to process and he yelled…loudly..and stalked off. The price for that one came out to $400+, but we filled it anyway and when he came back i thought hell was going to break loose and I would never again be able to service as a tech because the man was going to eat me whole.
He stormed off without paying for anything, citing that the drug cards the manufacturer had sent him (for his patients…not his personal use, mind you) lied and he would raise hell.
I got the call the next day from McKesson…turns out that the card he used first had that $25 deal and when he turned in the second, their policy had changed. I almost laughed until I realized that now we were left with a bottle with 1 tablet in it and a return to stock that is going to cost us a crapload of money.
That was, and most likely will be, the only time that we will ever stock solodyn in our pharmacy…I find it amazing that the doctor only wrote the prescriptions for this expensive drug for his family because he could use the cards he was supposed to be handing out to his patients. We spent half the time trying to figure out why he wrote it for Qty 59, 1 QD, only to be told that it was done exactly that way to get the $25 price. Lovely…nice to know they can work the system and apparently we’re to blame when things go south

I have noticed that a lot of these products are actually marketed to teens in your typical teen magazines. Show a hottie with clear skin and all of a sudden every kid is buggin their parents that they need differin! Even more amazing to me is the number of parents who come in get sticker shocked by the hundred dollar copay and reluctantly drop the money! WTF, I had to deal with acne, buy a cheap face wash and get over it. I can maybe understand severe acne, or cystic acne….but geez two pimples does not mean you need soldyn or doryx!

Hahaha maybe I should drop out of pharmacy school and become a stripper. 🙂
I wish I had something more substantial to contribute to the conversation. Never had acne, though.
There’s an old wives tale from my culture that a new pimple is a sign that you’re in love. Some people just have too much love to give.

rph3664_I’m not sure where yuor trojan came from, but it wasn’t from us. It’s hosted on Blogger. If it crashed your PC it is probably the ads loading, or the sidebar Javascript.
Shy Intern-You are welcome back anytime.
TAP-Funnily enough I’ve had a few posts from drug-reps who used to work in pharmacy as students or interns. One of them had really bad fake-boobs and the photographs were hard-core and way too pornographic to put up. The other had her ID clearly visible, plus photos of her kids in the background. I asked her to blur them before I put them up.

I had done my rotation at a burn center and remember the traumatic causes for diligence and persistence in minimizing scars as well as working with the plasticity of maintaining limber joints. The derms there were phenomenal in handling the psychology of dealing with intentional or accidental self-destruction plus all the other attendant problems in staying alive with SJS and other immune diseases affecting skin. But, in their practices, they also had a large practice in working with trying to save limbs in patients with venous insufficiencies e.g. fingers, toes, lower limbs.
So, when my husband had the ankle eczema from H-E- double-hockeysticks for months after a bad case of upper leg varicose veins due to an accident impinging on veins behind his knees. I was concerned that it would get infected making venous insufficiency worse and causing limb loss, so we practically tried everything that we could get OTC for eczema and consulted dermatologists, wound care center, and doctors specializing in venous insufficiency. My husband’s skin was biopsied, wrapped, and he was punch-tested for allergies.
Fortunately, over the course of months we were able to use samples of various creams,lotions, and potions. We did end up paying for a couple tubes of very expensive antiseptic ointments (which we found he was allergic to).
Like the adaptation of the saying my husband likes to bring up every now and again..there is no medicine for stupidity, I have to remember that there is not a ‘magic’ pill or medicine to replace sleep, or time to heal.
Eventually, getting used to the irritation of the Jobst stocking that essentially replaced his failing venous return, healthy blood circulation restored hydration and moved the cytokines (or whatever was causing the eczema) on outa the ankles. We were quite willing to pay top dollar for something magic if the derm came up with a winner.
Not for our adolescent’s acne…after the first two pots of topical erythromycin, generic Stridex and keeping manipulative fingers away from hormone-ridden skin, plus time, took care of that issue.

I had no idea it cost that much for solodyn. I looked it up at work and sure enough. That is ridiculous.
Also some of the super expensive prenatal vitamins for Medicaid patients get to me.
Found a new pharmacy rant blog: screamingtech.blogspot.com
Haha we are all united through our rage…Craigslist had an angry tech venting on there the other day too.

This rant is pretty straight up, hard core, old school pharmacist. Thanks for putting the balls into pharmacy talk again.
You easily could have been a ninja instead.
click on my name to be transported to a wonderful fairy land of angry pharmacist gear, and merry christmas 🙂

I go to my doctors office every 3 months or so for blood tests, and everytime I walk into that office I see atleast 3 drug reps waiting around with their bags stuffed. My doc is one who eats this shit up. I have migraines, my doctor, who listens to their garbage tried to give me that new imitrex combo, I can’t remember the name to save my life… It was a brand new drug, I tried it, it worked, he gave me a script. I nearly fell over at the price… Non covered several hundred dollars. Very sad….. Those doctors actually believe the shit the reps spew at them, and their patients pay (literally)..

Too funny on the drug rep porn site. Sign me up! They’re dumb but hot!
We let the evil drug reps in the office, take their samples to supply the uninsured, chuck out the stuff we don’t prescribe, and make them do statistics on the actual papers.
It’s amazing what they don’t teach you in drug rep school: great hair, check, great suit, check, amazing shoes, (I am sooo jealous) check. Basic knowledge about numbers needed to treat and risk-benefit ratios…. hmmmm… not so much.
Actually, off topic, and point me in the right direction if you’ve attacked this one: why on earth are pharmacists lobbying to prescribe? Yes, I make mistakes and accept corrections with good grace, but I know the patients’ histories…

Another stupid drug of the day, Vusion ointment. Ingredients…miconazole cream, white petrolatum, and zinc oxide…cost to patient $267.00 ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??? Stupid dermatologist who writes for it won’t change it when not covered by insurance co….even more stupid patient will not listen to reason when told of the OTC ingredients and cost of medication….patient willingly pays out of pocket “cause if my dr wrote for it then it must be worth it”. Jackass dermatologists…

Oh My Freakin’ God, I iwsh you had posted about this last year, might have saved me money and major pissed off ness! I went to a new dermatologist to do a round of accutane. I’ve had acne since teens, did accutane in early 20’s and it was the only thing that worked. Unfortunately by my late 20s I was getting acne again.
So this new derm. tells me I have to fail a course of acne treatment before being allowed to do accutane. He prescribes Solodyn and the coupon. I get it filled and didn’t realize how expensive it was, I have a cap on my prescription benefits, so after 3/mths on solodyn and no results, go to get the accutane filled and find out it’s going to cost $500/mth b/c the solodyn tapped out my prescription benefit for the rest of the year. This was early on the year so I either had to pay out of pocket for the accutane or wait another year and possibly wait another 3/mths thru a failed acne treatment. I had no idea that solodyn was just minocycline, I would have never gotten the solodyn, wtf! I knew whatever it was wasn’t going to work anyway b/c it never does with my acne. This cost me a dfew thousand dollars b/c that retard dermatologist decided to prescribe solodyn rather than minocycline.
Thanx for your posting about this!

I hate fucken Dermatologists. they have huge ego problems and very little dicks, which is why they think yhey are gods when they can offer their patients something new..they can play and feel like they are real scientists… they act like they are the ones who discovered the drug or the fucken laser that one dumbfucken asshole dick derm actually burned my face with and killed my life and self confidence. They are crooks, liars and thieves who hide behind the guisses of drug reps who lick their little dicks both the males and the females,and swallow their cum up in their big breast, again both the males and females. I hat fucken liar derms, esp one named kevin karakomi in Columbus, ohio who is at Westerville dermatology. He is a fucken liar and unqualified piece of shit, and needs his license revoked. he has no business burning young womens faces and acting like he didnt do anything. I hope god kicks his ass big time…while he’s playing god and then saint when he runs to ‘volunteer’ at his church. what a cocksucker. Wish I could put a curse on him and stop him from disfiguring others. As for the fda…buch of incompetent dicks who get sucked off as they get their asses licked clean by the drug and laser compaanies. I hate the money hungery way of this country. Let them eat their own meds and lets put the lasers to thir faces like they did ours.

We have a few people on Solodyn and Doryx. They refuse minocycline and doxycyline because “genetic” – yes geneTic – medications don’t work as well for them, or they are “allergic” to the generics because they get a stomach ache when taking them. And then they complain and yell because they should only have a $5 copay and wonder why “I” am charging them $55 or higher. IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m pretty surprised to see all this crazy ranting, so I just wanted to share my side of the story. I had mild acne as a teenager that I just dealt with, mostly in my t-zone. However, in my twenties I started developing a more serious case and it’s gotten worse over the years, until I am embarassed and uncomfortable and hardly want to leave the house.
I went to a PCP who prescribed doxycycline that gave me horrible nausea and stomachaches. I could not take it without throwing up. She also gave me a cream that turned out to be basically PersaGel in a $40 prescription tube. I stopped going to see her.
A couple more years passed and things kept getting worse. The only thing that helped at all was Nature’s Cure, but I couldn’t miss a dose or my face would break out again. It also made my throat itchy and I think it made me gain weight. This time I went to a dermatologist that was recommended by a friend. She told me to see my gyno and get on Yaz because my horomone levels were out of whack, and that seemed to help a little bit. Then she prescribed minocycline, but it really killed my stomach as well. We tried an ER minocycline but my insurance wouldn’t cover it, even though it started to help right away in the trial pack she gave me.
She prescribed Solodyn and gave me a card to pay only $25. I started taking it and had NO side effects, and it really started to work! I was so pleased. However, I did have quite a significant breakout on my chin by the next visit. She cleaned up my face and said we should try Doryx. Again, I got a prescription card and paid only $25. Unfortunately, I am now breaking out again and my skin is so oily I am constantly having to wipe it with tissues. It’s horrible. I want to go back on Solodyn – that is the only thing that really helped me. It wasn’t perfect, and I sure wouldn’t pay $1500, but if I can get it for $25 and the pharma company is reimbursing the pharmacy, what is the harm? I will give it the rest of the month with Doryx, but if this doesn’t clear up I’m going to call my Dermatologist and ask to go back on the Solodyn. It’s great stuff.

To sum everything up, the Extended Release has made a really big difference for me.

I take Solodyn, mainly for the only reason of never being able to remember the second dose, hence the ER!!! for the same reason wellbutrin has and XL, and adderall, and many of the other drugs you keep in stock on your shelf. They also make a 30 count bottle which we keep on our shelf, and oh wait when I run it through my insurance and my other customers I have on it, they pay us almost 200 bucks a bottle. This drug world is all a big marketing scam, it has been since day 1 of you being a pharmacist, so if you can’t stand it, WHY DO YOU DO IT!?!? I appreciate them coming out with an ER form of it since the world we live in now is a lot busier than it used to be. Find something with more substance to bitch about or find a new career. thanks

It causes severe hair loss. This I know for a fact because it started to grow back right after I stopped taking it. Others probably won’t be as fortunate. That side affect isn’t mentioned anywhere. So there you have another reason not to fill it.

Minocycline can activate a variety of auto-immune conditions. Many auto-immune conditions cause hair-loss, therefore its (to me, I’m not a dermatologist and not even a fully-licensed doctor yet) reasonable that it coud cause hair loss. Though this would likely be rare as it isn’t listed as a direct side effect (yet lots of other auto-immune diseases are).

I don’t know about them getting made fun of in med school. You actually have to be the creme of the crop to be a dermatologist.

They are however up with cosmetic (not reconstructive ones who do cleft palates and shuch) plastic surgeons on the assholish scale and many are clearly are only in it for the money. There is little job satisfaction to being a dermatologist that makes their living treating acne (some of the other diseases are cool though, lupus, etc.). In fact acne treatment really shouldn’t even be done by a dermatologist as most could easily be handled by primary care docs (perhaps even better as the primary care docs should be better about ordering lab tests/making sure all the antibiotics are well tolerated as we should be ordering blood work anyways). We can easily handle prescribing a tetracycline-class antibiotic, an OTC benzyol peroxide, and if need be a topical antibiotic. Furthermore we can throw in the requisite BUN/creatinine or liver function tests whenever we order our standard blood panels. Unless a case is super weird, there is absolutely no need for a specialist.

Is not Doryx enteric coated, for dissolution in the alkaline bath of the small intestine?

I agree with the rant (although perhaps a bit more profanity would have been nice), and cannot for the life of me figure out why anybody uses solodyn.

I have had several patients unable to tolerate generic doxy or minocycline. I passed out free samples of the WC Koolaid and, viola, no more puking doxies.

My case study had an n=3, teeming with statistical might. So, 98% of my current antibiotic-treated acne patients are on the generic, 2% get the accursed brand (D. Of course, that 2% probably costs the healthcare system more than the 98, but if its the only thing that works, and it’s your kid, what would you do?

Have I been misled?

I tell my patients at every encounter why I choose the meds I prescribe, and explain that the cost of some of the meds is ASTRONOMICALLY high. Most will shriek and ask why we allow this rape of the healthcare system to continue… and I agree that the dermatology drug manufacturers are among the most flagrant abusers of the system. Benzaclin PUMP? come on.

As a side note (dave) most of the kids I see for acne have been treated by their PCP for 3-6 months without success before coming to derm. The pharma folks could probably tell you what the usage data are on acne meds among derms vs PCP. My impression is that PCP who want to treat acne do so and are successful, others who are not inclined to treat acne will attempt treatment and then refer. Nobody is stopping primary care from treating acne, and it is fairly straightforward in most cases.

Was prescribed Solodyn and Ziana Gel for my daughter and given the $25 prescription cards. Had the orders filled and the cards were not accepted because I had no co-pay. The reason for this is because I have a health fund and payments are made from this until the fund is depleted. Unfortunately, I accepted the prescriptions and never thought about their cost. Two weeks later, I discovered my fund was charged over $1,000 for both of these. Went back to the pharmacy to try to correct this and was given the run around from everyone. Pharmacy (Wal-Mart) says it’s my insurance companies (Aetna) fault that the cards will not go through. Aetna says it is not them and the pharmacy should process as if I have no insurance, which the pharmacy says they can’t do. Called Medicis to complain and they said they the coupon is no good because the prescription was paid for by fund. Went to a new dermatologist who says Solodyn is nothing more the Tetrocycline repackaged and gave me a prescription for a generic which cost me $15 and is working great.

Button line, no one informed me of the price of these drugs and it cost me $1,000 for 15 days of treatment, this should be criminal. Screw you Medicis!

Thank you! I’m just a “stupid nurse” who saw Solodyn for what it was….minocycline in ER form….questioned the very hostile medical assistant,Kerry, in the dermatologists’ office, and was basically told I’m an a-hole because “Solodyn is specially ordered for my son’s, weight and it’s specifically ordered for acne vulgaris”. Refusing to fill this $600 waste of money. Had the PCP phone in 100mg BID of the same damn thing for a $10 co-pay! Of course the derm doesn’t want to Rx Accutane, then the cash tree would be cut down! Quack quack quack!

You know this drug has horrible side effects, too? I was a victim of one of them, which was moderate OCD. I wish doctors knew this. My doc told me that it was an “antibiotic,” so therefore, did not cause mental side effects. No. It does. This has to be taken off the market. Now I am left with religious-oriented OCD, and it seems like very doctor I talk to doesn’t believe me. This is new. It needs time to see how it works on ALL people.

My dermatologist insists there is no such thing as generic doxycycline only Oracea. ALso that Sulfamethoxazole-TMPRS can just about kill you. My face has never looked better than when I was put on that for another reason.

Love this rant! Daughter’s dermatologist prescribed Solodyn. I got a call from the pharmacist saying “you do realize your insurance doesn’t cover this and it costs $1300 for 30 pills, right”? So I sic’ed my wife on the dermatologist. Knowing my wife, the derm will have a piece of my wife’s mind so firmly shoved down her throat, she won’t be able to talk out another Solodyn prescription for weeks.